I love them TOO much!

The other day, Motivation For Moms read "Each child is individual; pray that God will help you in developing that individual character."

Oh how so true it is. I know this fact - and yet I find that letting my girls be their individual selves is sometimes a struggle for me. Since they are close in age, the best of friends, and both girls...much of our lives is doing double. When ever I buy something new for one, I buy a matching one for the other. They play with the same friends, sleep in the same room, and are hardly ever apart.

I actually stopped myself in Target the other day - and realized I had reached my own sort of "Mothering Milestone." Both girls were looking at shoes. We rarely get out of Target without a new pair of shoes (proof that it's just in the feminine gene) and Megan had picked out this pair of flats that were leopard print with pink trim. SO MEGAN! I immediately found another pair in Molly's size and started to try them on her feet.

Molly threw a fit! "I no want those!" she kept repeating, "I want deez ones!" She brought me a cute pair of brown suede Mary Jane's with pink flowers on them. Molly's pick was actually much more practical for Fall and school then the ones Megan had picked out. So I went and found them in Megan's size and began the campaign to change Megan's mind.

Then - like a brick - it hit me. Why do I feel they have to have the same? Megan can have leopard and Molly can have brown suede. THEY DON'T HAVE TO MATCH. It was a true struggle for me to buy them different shoes. I even tried to justify buying both pairs for both girls, but that was not in the financial cards that day. Once I realized how silly I was being, I laughed and they each got their own shoes.

My individual girls.

Megan is definitely the oldest child, the first child. I can already see some of the same personality traits in her, that I recognize in myself, also being a first born. She is very careful to do everything right. She's eager to show you how well she can listen and follow directions. (Especially when her sister isn't!) She is cautious before starting something new, but once she's taken everything in - turns into the ring leader and wants to be in charge. She is everyone's little mother, always helping me with the younger ones. She is such a GIRLY girl, loving anything pink or "hot blue" and always wanting to wear dresses, skirts, tights, clips and bows in her hair, and sparkly shoes! She is very compassionate and sensitive - of her own feelings and those of others. She is the first to hug, kiss or say "I love you" but she is also the first to get her feelings hurt. She loves vegetables and fruit, especially watermelon - but meat she couldn't care less about. She is very cautious about hot foods - always asking "Is this spicy?" She runs, skips, gallops, can pump on the swings by herself, and hop on one foot. She talks a blue streak, loves imaginative play, and will sing the whole day through if no one interrupts her. She also loves to dance and tumble and show off her tricks, often followed by a "Molly, can you do this!?"

Most times - Molly CAN do it! She is forever keeping up with her big sister. Molly is my busy body. She is always going. I said to Matt the other day, "Do you notice that Molly never walks?" If she needs to go from point A to point B - she runs...or skips, or dances, or jumps her way there. She is the best self entertainer. She plays they whole day thru - filling and emptying her purses, giving her My Little Pony's baths and doing their hair, riding her bike around the yard and hollering at the dog to "Leave me Lone!" as he tries to lick her. She is famous for her "checks" and "tickets." What she calls paper she has cut and torn into little pieces, colored on and stuffed into her purse. (She is never without a purse on her shoulder BTW, either! - even to the beach, football games, and to bed she carries one) Everyone she meets, she opens her purse and gives them a check or ticket saying, "I made this for you." I am forever cleaning them up off the floor all over our house. Molly will eat anything and everything - especially meat. She also loves strong flavors like garlic, Tabasco, and blue cheese. Like Megan, she is also quite the girly girl, loving her "yipgloss" and clips for her hair. But she is more of a daredevil than Megan, which leads to her constantly bruised little legs and forehead. A day doesn't go by that Molly doesn't get a boo boo. She climbs on everything, tries to balance on random objects and is often heard saying "Megan, try dis, like me!"

Molly has a new expression when professing her love. She exclaims "I love you TOO much, Mom!" When what she really means is "I love you SO much!" But every time she says it, I release a little sigh. Because I feel that her mistake is actually my truth. If there were ever anything I loved too much, it's these kids. And it's their individual characters that make me look at them, and just be beside myself with the desire to eat them up! Take them in my arms and hug and kiss them and never let them go. What will Wyatt's individual character be? So far, he's pretty happy-go-lucky....as long as he's fed on time!